Take a break, help raise productivity
Motilal Oswal Financial Services has struck a contrary note. The brokerage has reportedly adopted a policy called Switch Off from Work, aimed at giving employees a break. After a work stretch of 8-8.5 hours, they must relax—in the interest of an improved work-life balance and recharged grey cells.
To prevent intrusions from work associates or overzealous bosses, the firm will shut down its email service in this ‘off’ period, so that no message can be sent or received. If Narayana Murthy’s focus was on hard work in terms of hours, Motilal Oswal seems keen to test the hypothesis of stress-relieved minds delivering greater productivity. Numerous studies have shown the drop-off effects of job fatigue, while pointing to benefits from well-spaced work breaks.
Moreover, a cheerful workforce usually yields better results overall, as observed. There was a time when some management gurus would even recommend “power naps" for top business leaders, a practice whose advocates spoke of “synaptic rejuvenation" and the like. The idea was the same.
Human minds need to work optimally. But few acknowledged this as true for their entire staff. Milestone Alert!
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